SAN RAMON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) today reported earnings of $7.2 billion
($3.70 per share – diluted) for the fourth quarter 2012, compared with
$5.1 billion ($2.58 per share – diluted) in the 2011 fourth quarter.
Results in the 2012 period included a gain of $1.4 billion from an
upstream asset exchange.

Sales and other operating revenues in the fourth quarter 2012 were $56
billion, down from $58 billion in the year-ago period, mainly due to
lower crude oil volumes.

Earnings Summary

Fourth Quarter

Year

Millions of dollars

2012

2011

2012

2011

Earnings by Business Segment

Upstream

$

6,858

$

5,737

$

23,788

$

24,786

Downstream

925

(61

)

4,299

3,591

All Other

(538

)

(553

)

(1,908

)

(1,482

)

Total (1)(2)

$

7,245

$

5,123

$

26,179

$

26,895

$

(131

)

$

(83

)

$

(454

)

$

121

(1)Includes foreign currency effects

(2)Net income attributable to Chevron
Corporation (See Attachment 1)

“Chevron delivered another very strong year in 2012,” said Chairman and
CEO John Watson. “Our upstream portfolio continues to produce excellent
results. We’ve now led the industry in earnings per barrel for over
three years. Our downstream businesses also delivered highly competitive
earnings per barrel.”

“Strong cash flows allowed us to invest aggressively in our major
capital projects and to acquire several important, new resource
opportunities. We also raised the dividend on our common shares for the
25th consecutive year and continued our share repurchase
program, both of which demonstrate our commitment to providing
near-term, top-tier returns to our shareholders.”

Watson continued, “We made significant progress on our Gorgon and
Wheatstone LNG projects in Australia in the past year. At the same time,
we announced six additional natural gas discoveries offshore Australia,
and completed an asset exchange that increased our interests in
Carnarvon Basin fields. These results support future expansion
opportunities for these two projects.”

“We also expanded our global exploration resource acreage in 2012,”
Watson noted, “including entries into five new countries, the addition
of significant new acreage in the United States, and the recently
announced acquisition of a 50 percent operated interest in a western
Canada LNG project.”

Watson commented that the company added approximately 1.07 billion
barrels of net oil-equivalent proved reserves in 2012. These additions,
which are subject to final reviews, equate to 112 percent of net
oil-equivalent production for the year. The largest additions were for
the Gorgon Project, as a result of development drilling and additional
reservoir data. Also significant were additions for fields in the United
States, Asia and offshore eastern Canada. The company will provide
additional details relating to 2012 reserve additions in its Annual
Report on Form 10-K scheduled for filing with the SEC on February 22.

“In the downstream business, we completed a multiyear plan to streamline
the asset portfolio. We continued to focus our investments toward higher
growth and higher margin products,” Watson added. In 2012, the company’s
50 percent-owned affiliate, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC,
announced the beginning of commercial production at a petrochemical
facility in Saudi Arabia, and the initiation of front-end engineering
and design for several petrochemical projects on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Significant progress was also made on the construction of new capacity
to make premium base oil at the company’s Pascagoula, Mississippi,
refinery and additional capacity at the company’s existing additives
plant in Singapore.

The company purchased $1.25 billion of its common stock in fourth
quarter 2012 under its share repurchase program. Repurchases for the
full year totaled $5 billion. At year end, balances of cash, cash
equivalents, time deposits and marketable securities totaled $21.9
billion, an increase of $1.8 billion from the end of 2011. Total debt at
December 31, 2012 stood at $12.2 billion, an increase of $2.0 billion
from a year earlier.

UPSTREAM

Worldwide net oil-equivalent production was 2.67 million barrels per day
in the fourth quarter 2012, up from 2.64 million barrels per day in the
2011 fourth quarter. Production increases from project ramp-ups in
Nigeria, the United States and Thailand, higher cost recovery volumes in
Bangladesh and new volumes from the recently-acquired Delaware Basin
properties were partially offset by normal field declines and the
continued shut-in of the Frade Field in Brazil.

U.S. Upstream

Fourth Quarter

Year

Millions of Dollars

2012

2011

2012

2011

Earnings

$

1,363

$

1,605

$

5,332

$

6,512

U.S. upstream earnings of $1.36 billion in the fourth quarter 2012 were
down $242 million from a year earlier. Lower crude oil and natural gas
realizations were partially offset by higher crude oil production.

The company’s average sales price per barrel of crude oil and natural
gas liquids was $91 in the fourth quarter 2012, down from $101 a year
ago. The average sales price of natural gas was $3.22 per thousand cubic
feet, compared with $3.62 in last year’s fourth quarter.

Net oil-equivalent production of 674,000 barrels per day in the fourth
quarter 2012 increased 13,000 barrels per day, or 2 percent, from a year
earlier. The increase in production was primarily due to further ramp-up
of projects in the Gulf of Mexico and the recently-acquired Delaware
Basin properties, partially offset by an absence of volumes associated
with Cook Inlet, Alaska, assets sold in 2011. The net liquids component
of oil-equivalent production increased 3 percent in the 2012 fourth
quarter to 462,000 barrels per day, while net natural gas production
decreased 1 percent to 1.27 billion cubic feet per day.

International Upstream

Fourth Quarter

Year

Millions of Dollars

2012

2011

2012

2011

Earnings*

$

5,495

$

4,132

$

18,456

$

18,274

*Includes foreign currency effects

$

(34

)

$

(3

)

$

(275

)

$

211

International upstream earnings of $5.5 billion increased $1.4 billion
from the fourth quarter 2011. The increase between quarters primarily
reflected a gain of approximately $1.4 billion on an asset exchange in
Australia. Foreign currency effects decreased earnings by $34 million,
compared with a decrease of $3 million a year earlier.

The average sales price for crude oil and natural gas liquids in the
2012 fourth quarter was $100 per barrel, compared with $101 a year
earlier. The average price of natural gas was $5.97 per thousand cubic
feet, up from $5.55 in last year’s fourth quarter.

Net oil-equivalent production of 1.99 million barrels per day in the
fourth quarter 2012 increased 14,000 barrels per day from a year ago.
Production increases from project ramp-ups in Nigeria and Thailand and
higher cost recovery volumes in Bangladesh were partially offset by the
continued shut-in of the Frade Field in Brazil.The net liquids
component of oil-equivalent production decreased 3 percent to 1.33
million barrels per day, while net natural gas production increased 8
percent to 3.96 billion cubic feet per day.

DOWNSTREAM

U.S. Downstream

Fourth Quarter

Year

Millions of Dollars

2012

2011

2012

2011

Earnings

$

331

$

(204

)

$

2,048

$

1,506

U.S. downstream operations earned $331 million in the fourth quarter
2012, compared with a loss of $204 million a year earlier. The increase
was due to improved margins on refined products and higher earnings from
the 50 percent-owned Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC.

Refinery crude oil input of 702,000 barrels per day in fourth quarter
2012 decreased 61,000 barrels per day from the year-ago period,
primarily due to an early-August fire at the refinery in Richmond,
California that shut down the crude unit. Refined product sales of 1.15
million barrels per day were down 75,000 barrels per day from fourth
quarter 2011, mainly reflecting lower gasoline, gas oil and kerosene
sales. Branded gasoline sales decreased 2 percent to 507,000 barrels per
day.

International Downstream

Fourth Quarter

Year

Millions of Dollars

2012

2011

2012

2011

Earnings*

$

594

$

143

$

2,251

$

2,085

*Includes foreign currency effects

$

(97

)

$

(81

)

$

(173

)

$

(65

)

International downstream operations earned $594 million in the fourth
quarter 2012, compared with $143 million a year earlier. Current quarter
earnings benefited from higher gains on asset sales, primarily
reflecting the sale of the company’s fuels marketing businesses in three
countries in the Caribbean. A favorable change in effects on derivative
instruments and improved margins on refined products also contributed to
the higher earnings in the 2012 quarter.

Refinery crude oil input of 918,000 barrels per day increased 113,000
barrels per day from fourth quarter 2011, primarily due to consolidation
of the 64 percent-owned Star Petroleum Refining Company beginning June
2012. Total refined product sales of 1.57 million barrels per day in the
2012 fourth quarter were flat compared to a year earlier.

Net charges in the fourth quarter 2012 were $538 million, compared with
$553 million in the year-ago period.

CAPITAL AND EXPLORATORY EXPENDITURES

Capital and exploratory expenditures in 2012 were $34.2 billion,
compared with $29.1 billion in 2011. The amounts included approximately
$2.1 billion in 2012 and $1.7 billion in 2011 for the company’s share of
expenditures by affiliates, which did not require cash outlays by the
company. Expenditures for upstream represented 89 percent of the
companywide total in 2012.

NOTICE

Chevron’s discussion of fourth quarter 2012 earnings with security
analysts will take place on Friday, February 1, 2013, at 8:00 a.m. PST.
A webcast of the meeting will be available in a listen-only mode to
individual investors, media, and other interested parties on Chevron’s
Web site at www.chevron.com
under the “Investors” section. Additional financial and operating
information will be contained in the Earnings Supplement that will be
available under “Events and Presentations” in the “Investors” section on
the Web site.

Chevron will post selected first quarter 2013 interim performance
data for the company and industry on its Web site on Wednesday, April
10, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. PDT. Interested parties may view this
interim data at www.chevron.com
under the “Investors” section.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS RELEVANT TO FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION FOR THE
PURPOSE OF “SAFE HARBOR” PROVISIONS OF THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION
REFORM ACT OF 1995

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to
Chevron’s operations that are based on management’s current
expectations, estimates and projections about the petroleum, chemicals
and other energy-related industries. Words such as “anticipates,”
“expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “targets,” “forecasts,” “projects,”
“believes,” “seeks,” “schedules,” “estimates,” “budgets,” “outlook” and
similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking
statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance
and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors, many
of which are beyond the company’s control and are difficult to predict.
Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what
is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. The
reader should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.
Unless legally required, Chevron undertakes no obligation to update
publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.

Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in the forward-looking statements are: changing
crude oil and natural gas prices; changing refining, marketing and
chemical margins; actions of competitors or regulators; timing of
exploration expenses; timing of crude oil liftings; the competitiveness
of alternate-energy sources or product substitutes; technological
developments; the results of operations and financial condition of
equity affiliates; the inability or failure of the company’s
joint-venture partners to fund their share of operations and development
activities; the potential failure to achieve expected net production
from existing and future crude oil and natural gas development projects;
potential delays in the development, construction or start-up of planned
projects; the potential disruption or interruption of the company’s
production or manufacturing facilities or delivery/transportation
networks due to war, accidents, political events, civil unrest, severe
weather or crude oil production quotas that might be imposed by the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries; the potential liability
for remedial actions or assessments under existing or future
environmental regulations and litigation; significant investment or
product changes required by existing or future environmental statutes,
regulations and litigation; the potential liability resulting from other
pending or future litigation; the company’s future acquisition or
disposition of assets and gains and losses from asset dispositions or
impairments; government-mandated sales, divestitures, recapitalizations,
industry-specific taxes, changes in fiscal terms or restrictions on
scope of company operations; foreign currency movements compared with
the U.S. dollar; the effects of changed accounting rules under generally
accepted accounting principles promulgated by rule-setting bodies; and
the factors set forth under the heading “Risk Factors” on pages 29
through 31 of the company’s 2011 Annual Report on Form 10-K. In
addition, such results could be affected by general domestic and
international economic and political conditions. Other unpredictable or
unknown factors not discussed in this press release could also have
material adverse effects on forward-looking statements.